Unlocking Success: Edmentum Resources for IOAPA Students

The Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is an initiative that bridges geographical and resource-related gaps to provide Iowa students with access to over 30 advanced online courses. Developed through a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa, IOAPA empowers students to explore challenging subjects, expand their knowledge, and prepare for future academic endeavors. At the heart of this program lies Edmentum, our trusted course provider. Let’s delve into several of the resources Edmentum offers to IOAPA students.

1. Informational Videos

To support IOAPA students, they’ve curated a playlist of YouTube videos. These videos provide step-by-step instructions for completing various tasks within the courses. Whether it’s mastering a complex concept or navigating the course interface, these videos serve as valuable companions on the learning journey.

2. Student Resources Page

The Student Resources page is a treasure trove for IOAPA students. Here, you’ll find a comprehensive collection of course materials, including study guides, and supplementary readings/activities. Additionally, the discussion boards foster collaboration among students.

3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Navigating an online course can sometimes feel like exploring uncharted territory. Edmentum’s FAQ page is your compass. It provides answers to common queries related to course completion. From technical troubleshooting to understanding assessment formats, this resource ensures that no question goes unanswered.

4. Live Help Function

Imagine having a virtual mentor at your fingertips. Edmentum’s Live Help function makes it possible. Need clarification on a math problem? Struggling with a historical context? Simply access Live Help, and you’ll be connected with an experienced educator who specializes in the subject you’re working on. It’s like having a personal tutor available whenever you need assistance.

5. Student Success Zone

The Student Success Zone is your hub for orientation and course completion guidance. Whether you’re a first-time IOAPA student or a seasoned participant, this page provides essential information. From time management tips to study strategies, it’s designed to enhance your overall learning experience.

6. The Teacher Connection

While Edmentum’s resources are invaluable, don’t forget about your most powerful resource: your teacher. They understand the curriculum intricacies, tailor instruction to your needs, and provide personalized feedback. Whenever you have curriculum-specific questions, reach out to your teacher—they’re there to support your academic journey. Their email contacts can be found on the student resources page under their course subject.

For any additional questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org. We’re here to champion your educational aspirations.

IOAPA AP® Exam Scholarship Winners

The Belin-Blank Center is thrilled to announce the recipients of this year’s Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) AP® Exam Scholarships. These scholarships provide financial support for AP® exams to IOAPA students with demonstrated financial need. As part of our commitment to fostering educational equity, we extend this opportunity to low-income students in rural schools across Iowa. As funding allows we also extend this opportunity to other IOAPA students. This year, we proudly awarded over 30 scholarships!

Acknowledging Our School Champions

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the dedicated school staff who advocated for their students by applying for these scholarships:

Malinda Brechwald – Estherville Lincoln Central
Paulina Rodenburg – Glenwood Community High School
Tiffany Weller – Lenox High School
Taryn Mottet – Ottumwa High School
Hollie Weber – Central Lee High School
Helen Stout – Eddyville Blakesburg Fremont Jr/Sr High
Lynne Zoulek – Regina High School
Jill Janes – Boone High School

Additional Funding Opportunity!

Funding is also currently available for 7th-9th grade IOAPA students to take the ACT for above-level testing. More information about this program and registration can be found here. Please reach out to us at assessment@belinblank.org for more information about funding opportunities.

The Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a collaborative effort between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa. Our mission is to break down barriers to advanced education by providing free access to over 30 online courses for Iowa students. These courses, which include both Advanced Placement® (AP) classes for high school students and high school-level courses for eligible middle school students, are not always readily available in local school districts. IOAPA bridges geographical gaps and ensures that talented students throughout Iowa can access challenging coursework. By removing resource-related obstacles, we empower students to reach their full potential. Registration for Fall 2024 opens on April 8th! As funds allow, we will continue to offer AP exam scholarships, supporting academic excellence and opening doors to higher education. Have questions about IOAPA or the scholarship program? Feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org. We’re here to help!

Let’s celebrate the achievements of our IOAPA students and wish them the best of luck on their AP® exams and beyond!

IOAPA Fall Registration opens soon!

Fall 2024 registration for Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) opens April 8th! Do you have Iowa students in 6th grade or above? Exciting news awaits! IOAPA is here to empower you with free access to asynchronous advanced courses. The aim of this program is to bridge the gap, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to explore challenging subjects.

Why IOAPA?

Access for All: IOAPA opens doors that might otherwise remain closed. We believe that every student deserves a chance to excel, regardless of their school district’s offerings.
Empowering Rural Schools: By providing advanced courses online, IOAPA lightens the load for rural schools. No more limitations due to classroom availability or staffing constraints.
Support: IOAPA staff and our course vendors are here to help you every step of the way, from planning to deciding how best to document your students grade. Also, visit our website, you can find a wealth of information, including our course catalog, important dates, registration, and information about getting started, along with support materials designed to help you and your students make decisions about course selections.

Explore Our Course Catalog:

High School Students (16 AP Courses):

AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP Computer Science A (Java)
AP Computer Science Principles
AP English Language and Composition
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Environmental Science

AP French Language and Culture
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP Psychology
AP Spanish
AP Statistics
AP U.S. Government
AP U.S. History

Middle School Students (15 Advanced Courses):

Algebra I
Algebra II
Biology
Computer Science Python Fundamentals
Creative Writing
Environmental Science
Geometry

Physical Science
Precalculus
Probability and Statistics
Psychology
Spanish I
U.S. History since the Civil War
U.S. History to the Civil War

Ready to Register? Follow These Steps:

Step-by-Step Registration:

Visit Our Website:
- Head to belinblank.org/ioapa.
- Review the Getting Started information.
Register Your School:
- Principals, take the lead! Register your school by clicking “Register” here.
- Assign the two on-site roles (can be held by the same person):
  - Site Coordinator: Oversees IOAPA activities at your school.
  - Mentor: A certified teacher who guides students through the program.
Nominate Students:
- After registration, you’ll receive an automated email with a link to nominate students.
- Identify the students who will participate in IOAPA courses.
Student Self-Enrollment:
- Nominated students receive an email inviting them to enroll in their chosen courses.
- Remind them to check their junk mail folders—important emails sometimes end up there!
- Students complete the enrollment process and click “Submit.”
College Board Requirements:
- Register your school with the College Board.
- Complete the AP Course Audit process for Online/Distance Learning courses by the end of January. This allows you to label courses as “AP” on students’ transcripts. Detailed instructions for Project STEM courses can be found on our website.
AP Exam Ordering:
- Encourage high school students to take the AP exam.
- Order all AP exams by the College Board’s deadline.
- Keep an eye out for emails about applying for our IOAPA AP exam scholarships.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions or concerns.

Tips and Resources for Online Foreign Language Learning

Learning a foreign language online can be both exciting and challenging. Traditionally students in our IOAPA foreign language courses have had more difficulty adjusting to the demands of online learning. This is likely because language learning requires a level of immersion that is difficult to find outside of a classroom and without shared class time with peers. Here are some practical tips to help you succeed in your language course:

Consistent Study Habits:
- Study every day. Language learning is cumulative, so avoid cramming. If possible, allocate 1-2 hours of study per day if you aim to get an A or B grade.
- Focus on different tasks during each study session: vocabulary, grammar, etc.
Class Participation:
- Attend and actively participate in every class, even if you’re not fully prepared.
- Class time is your best opportunity to practice speaking and listening.
- Learn grammar and vocabulary outside of class to maximize in-class learning.
Grammar Mastery:
- Learn grammar thoroughly. It’s the backbone of language.
- Over-learn by studying beyond recognition to achieve mastery.
Positive Attitude:
- Have a clear personal reason for taking the course.
- Set realistic and specific learning goals.
- Embrace mistakes as part of the learning process.
Reading and Writing Skills:
- Train yourself to notice details like accents and gender agreement.
- Practice reading comprehension and writing regularly.
Language Immersion:
- Speak, read, or watch content in the language before each class to warm up.
- If possible, get to know your classmates; a supportive environment helps.
Seek Help When Needed:
- Reach out to your teacher for additional help and to discuss goals and fears.
- Utilize tutoring services such as Edmentum’s live help feature when needed.

Below is a curated list of free online resources to help you on your language-learning journey. Here are some excellent options:

Apps: There are excellent, free apps to help you along the way. They both also have great websites. Here are some popular language-learning apps that I recommend:
- Duolingo: a free, fun language app that gamifies language learning
- Memrise: another great language app with a free version.
News:
- Paperboy: newspapers from around the world. Be sure to click the arrow button to follow the link to the newspaper’s website.
- Google News under settings, you can change the target language and country
Language Guides: Sometimes, just one or two words in a sentence are difficult to understand, even when using context clues. Language guides can help you understand and pronounce these words.
- Google Translate: a great language dictionary with increasing functionality daily.
- Forvo: has an excellent pronunciation guide and can read new words aloud.
Videos: YouTube can also be a great resource for language learning. Language learning channels can help you learn concepts and hear pronunciations.
- Spanish
  - Butterfly Spanish: a native speaker who shares free lessons
  - The Spanish Dude: An English speaker fluent in Spanish who provides excellent explanations of Spanish language concepts
  - Easy Spanish: a mixture of real-world conversations and language lessons, including some in “slow spanish”
- French
  - French Pod 101: lessons and website with a variety of additional resources
  - Learn French with Alexa: a fun language learning channel
  - Easy French: a mixture of real-world conversations and lessons, including some in “slow french”

Remember, consistency and practice are key. Learning a language takes time, but with dedication and the right approach, you’ll make progress! Happy language learning! 🌐🗣️

Please note: the Belin-Blank Center is not sponsored by any of the services above. The information contained in this blog post is for general information purposes only. The Belin-Blank Center assumes no responsibility for the contents of the services mentioned above. Full Disclaimer can be found here.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and, therefore, reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Spring Term IOAPA AP Exam Scholarships

We recognize the importance of providing equitable opportunities for all students. To ensure that every eligible student has access to AP exams, The Belin Blank Center’s IOAPA program is pleased to announce our Spring AP Exam Scholarships for the 2023-2024 school year. The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers rigorous courses that can significantly impact a student’s academic journey by improving college outcomes. Additionally, we want to remind you of some important upcoming deadlines.

Important Dates and Deadlines

Order Deadline for AP Exams: March 15, 2024
- If you have students enrolled in one-term, spring semester courses, please remember to place your order by this date.
Scholarship Application Deadline: March 8, 2024
- We encourage all eligible students to apply for our AP exam scholarships. These scholarships are specifically designed for low-income students who meet the criteria outlined below.

Eligibility Requirements

Our scholarship program prioritizes students who demonstrate financial need. Here’s what you need to know:

Free/Reduced-Cost Lunch Program Qualification (Preference)
- Students who qualify for the free/reduced-cost lunch program will receive preference in scholarship selection.
- However, even if a student doesn’t meet the specific Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) guidelines, they will still be considered if funding remains available.
Attendance at a rural school
- Students from rural schools will also receive preference in applicant selection.
- We will also extend our scholarship opportunity to low-income students attending non-rural schools if funding permits.
Enrollment in IOAPA Advanced Placement Courses
- To qualify, students must be enrolled in an IOAPA Advanced Placement course during the 2023-2024 school year.
- The scholarship is intended to support the AP exam associated with the IOAPA course the student is currently taking and cannot be used for any other AP exams students may be taking.

Scholarship Process

Per-Exam Cost
- The per-exam cost for the 2023-24 school year is $62 for students eligible for free/reduced cost lunch.
- Schools should plan to pay this fee directly to the College Board with reimbursement being provided after an invoice is received.
Invoice Submission
- After students have taken their AP exams, schools should submit an invoice to the Belin-Blank Center.
- Include documentation showing that the College Board fees have been paid for these students.
- Please note that there will be no reimbursement if a student does not take the exam.
One AP Exam per Student
- Funding is limited to only one AP exam per eligible student.
- We want to maximize the impact of these scholarships across a broad range of students.
Purpose and Focus
- The primary purpose of this funding is to increase AP exam participation among students from rural schools in Iowa.
- If your school is already covering AP exam costs, we encourage you to prioritize students who haven’t received funding elsewhere.

Take Action

If you have eligible students, apply for the scholarship by the deadline of March 8, 2024.
Access the online application here.

Let’s empower our students to excel academically and open doors to their future success. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org. Together, we can make a difference!

Tips for Success in Online Courses

Taking an online course can be an exciting opportunity to learn, grow, and acquire new skills. However, it can also introduce difficulties that may be new for some students, as it can be more self-paced than traditional coursework. Whether you’re preparing for more advanced courses in high school and college or enhancing your career prospects, these strategies will help you make the most of your online learning experience.

1. Set Up a Dedicated Workspace

Creating a conducive study environment is crucial. It can also help your brain get into “learning mode”. Designate a quiet, clutter-free space where you can focus on your coursework. Here’s how:

Choose Your Spot: Find a spot with minimal distractions. When at school, work with your mentor to determine the best space for you to work during the dedicated IOAPA time in your schedule. When working on homework, this could be a desk, a table, or even a corner of your living room.
Organize Your Tools: Gather all the essentials—laptop, notebooks, pens, and any other materials you’ll need. Having everything within reach reduces interruptions. Tip: If you find you get distracted whenever you sit down, keep a piece of paper and jot down the other tasks that come to mind. They will still be there when you’re done with your assignment.

2. Create a Realistic Homework Schedule

Online courses require self-discipline because you might not necessarily have a teacher around to remind you of upcoming or missing assignments. Craft a personalized study schedule that aligns with your daily routine:

Time Management: Make sure there is IOAPA time in your course schedule. This is an entire course and requires just as much time as any other. Allocate specific hours each day for homework. This includes time to complete assignments and readings. Stick to this schedule consistently.
Be realistic: Be realistic about how much time you need. If being consistent is difficult, it might be time to step back and determine if another time would be better. If you are consistently running out of time, consider adding additional time into your schedule.

3. Stay Organized

Keeping track of assignments and deadlines is essential. Work can pile up quickly so staying on top of it can make for a less stressful end to your semester. Use these organizational tools:

Planners (Digital or Physical): Explore apps or online tools that help you manage tasks, due dates, and reminders. If you prefer writing things down, invest in a good old-fashioned planner.
To–do List: Knowing exactly what you need to accomplish in a study session can keep you on target and checking off items as you finish them can feel satisfying.

4. Engage in Class Discussions

Online courses often have discussion forums where you can connect with classmates and instructors. Here’s why participation matters:

Learning from Peers: Engage in discussions to gain different perspectives and insights. Seeing material rephrased in multiple ways can help you find an explanation that clicks for you.

Active Learning: Sharing your thoughts and asking (and maybe even answering) questions keeps you engaged. Just the act of forming a coherent response no matter how brief can solidify learning.

5. Tap into Available Resources

Online courses come with a wealth of resources. Don’t hesitate to use them:

In-School Mentor: your mentor is there to help you stay organized and on-schedule
Tutoring Services: If you’re struggling with a concept, seek help from tutors or peer mentors. Edmentum offers a live help function where you can meet with a qualified teacher of that subject for help with assignments. Project STEM offers forums where you can speak to Teaching assistants or crowdsource help from other students.
Technical Support: Reach out if you encounter any technical glitches.
- Edmentum: email ioapa@belinblank.org and cc kim.sosomccullough@edmentum.com
- Project Stem: email ioapa@belinblank.org and cc support@projectstem.org

6. Stay Motivated

Online learning can be challenging, but maintaining motivation is crucial:

Set Goals: Break down larger goals into smaller manageable steps.
Celebrate Progress: Reward yourself when you complete a module or achieve a goal. It can be as small as a few minutes of free time.
Remember Your Why: Reflect on why you enrolled in the course. It can be helpful to remember when things get tough.

7. Communicate with Your Teacher

Your teachers are there to support you. Don’t hesitate to reach out:

Ask Questions: If you’re unsure about something, seek clarification promptly.
Feedback Matters: Act on feedback provided by your teachers—it’s valuable for improvement.

Remember, online courses require dedication and hard work, but they offer immense rewards. Good Luck! 🍀

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

The impact of 1 AP exam

There are many reasons to encourage high school students to complete advanced coursework and several options for how to do so. College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exams are one popular option. But, how many AP courses is enough?

A recent research summary put out by the College Board sheds some light on the most impactful number of courses for a student to take.¹ According to the associated research study based a sample of 400,000 college transcripts, increasing AP participation from zero to one AP exam and from one to two AP exams showed the biggest predicted boost in first-year grades and on-time bachelor’s degree attainment.² Said another way, encouraging a student to take just one exam had a significant connection with their freshman grades and finishing college in 4 years. This held for moving a student from taking one exams to two and two to three.

Interestingly it also should be noted that taking and performing well on more than four AP exams did not markedly alter predicted first-year college grades and on-time bachelor’s degree attainment rates.² So depending on the student’s goals more AP courses might not necessarily be better. This may be helpful for showing which students might receive the most impact from counseling related to coursework decisions. One might would imagine that a student that takes 4 or more AP courses probably did not need much outside coaxing to do so. However, for a student who is on the fence about taking their first AP course are likely to benefit from this experience.

In conclusion, taking one or two AP exams can provide a significant boost in first-year grades and on-time bachelor’s degree attainment rates. Iowa school professionals looking to expand the options available to their students may consider Iowa Online AP® Academy (IOAPA) provides free access to nearly 30 online advanced courses for Iowa students who would not otherwise have access to these courses in their schools. Keep an eye out for our upcoming announcements related to AP exam scholarships and Fall 2024 registration.

If you have any questions about your Iowa school’s eligibility for IOAPA courses, email us at ioapa@belinblank.org.

Source(s)

1. Summarizing Research on the Relationships Between the Number of APs,

AP Performance, and College Outcomes

2. Studying the Relationships Between the Number of APs, AP Performance, and College Outcomes

AP Exam Scholarships for IOAPA students

The Belin-Blank Center is pleased to continue offering AP exam scholarships for low-income and rural students participating in Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA). We are now accepting applications for AP exam scholarships for IOAPA students! IOAPA principals, site coordinators, and mentors can apply for this funding opportunity until December 1, 2023!

The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. If schools are already paying for AP exams, they should not request this funding. Funding for this application is only available for students who are taking IOAPA Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the 2023-24 school year. Funding is limited to only one AP exam per student.

Eligibility

Students who qualify for the free/reduced-cost lunch program will receive preference. Low-income students not meeting FRL guidelines will also be considered based on available funding.
Low-income students in non-rural schools may be considered if funding is available.
Students must be enrolled in an IOAPA Advanced Placement course during the 2023-2024 school year.
Funding is to be used for the exam associated with the current IOAPA course the student is taking during the 2023-2024 school year, not a different exam.

To complete the application, click here.

The per-exam cost for the 2023-24 school year is $62 for students eligible for free/reduced cost lunch. Schools that receive funding should plan to pay the $62 per student to the College Board. These schools will then need to submit an invoice to the Belin-Blank Center after students have taken the AP exams along with documentation showing they have paid the College Board for these students’ exams. There will be no reimbursement if a student does not take the exam. More information about this will be provided in the acceptance letters that are sent to site staff. Awards will be announced by December 1, 2023.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to over 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students.

Please email us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions!

Opportunities for Students in Iowa’s Small Schools and Rural Schools

The Belin-Blank Center’s Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA) provides free, advanced online courses to students grade 6-12 in small schools, rural schools, and any Iowa school without the resources to provide such courses on their own. Our support staff takes pressure off of school administrators and teachers, bringing challenging coursework to students, wherever they are in Iowa.

Students taking AP courses through IOAPA may also receive scholarships that pay for their AP exams. In May 2023, 28 Iowa students received an exam scholarship. Another way in which IOAPA supports students is through the new small grants program, in which IOAPA schools may apply for grants that pay for equipment or materials needed for IOAPA courses.

Registration for Spring 2024 IOAPA courses begins on November 6th and lasts until December 15th. To register your school and students, please visit IOAPA’s website. If you have any questions about any aspect of the program, please reach out to ioapa@belinblank.org.

Helping when gifted students fall behind

Working with gifted/talented students who are not accustomed to being challenged by coursework can be a challenge for teachers and mentors. These issues can be compounded if challenging coursework is also presented on a self-paced platform, such as in IOAPA courses. Educators will want to help students shift their mindsets surrounding the amount of time homework for an advanced course might actually take. Previously, they may have been able to put off homework until the last minute and still complete it on time because the material was less challenging. Now, they need to allocate extra time to work through difficult assignments. Additionally, with the self-paced component, students must adjust to a new level of responsibility by providing their own reminders to stay on track as opposed to being reminded by their teacher of upcoming due dates at the end of each class.

What are some ways we can help students develop these important and transferable skills?

If these are new skills, sometimes even the brightest students need some scaffolding for how to tackle these problems.

One easily explainable and structured way to do this is learning to set SMART goals.

SMART goals, while not a new concept, may be new to students and can be used in a variety of contexts. The SMART goals process provides some guidelines for setting goals that are attainable and have a built-in timepoint for follow-up, so they can be adjusted as needed. The acronym stands for:

Specific – make the goal as clear as possible
Measurable – think of how you would know that you have reached it
Attainable – make sure goals are realistic (this may need to be adjusted when put to the test)
Relevant – in this context relevance might be built in, but it never hurts to stop and think about why it is important to them
Time-bound – decide when it should be completed

This page describes this concept in more detail and provides questions that can help students with goal generation.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Fall Registration is open for IOAPA courses!

Fall 2023 registration for Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is now open! IOAPA provides free access to asynchronous advanced courses for Iowa students in 6th grade and above. A primary aim of this program is to provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district.

On our website, you can find a wealth of information, including our course catalog, important dates, registration, and information about getting started, along with support materials designed to help you and your students make decisions about course selections.

COURSES OFFERED

16 AP courses are available to high school students. This now includes the new course offering of AP French Language and Culture! See our course catalog for more information.
15 advanced courses are available to middle school students. These above-level courses are designed for high school students and made available to students in grades 6-8. We also now offer U.S. History since the Civil War in addition to our other course options.

Course descriptions and syllabi for all courses can be located by clicking “Learn More” on the course’s entry in our Course Catalog.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

To begin, visit our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) and review the Getting Started information. When you are ready to register, navigate back to the registration section of our website and click Register.

Step-by-step course registration instructions are included below:

Register your school and assign a site coordinator and mentor. The first step is for principals to register their schools. They can do that on our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) by clicking on Register. As part of this step, schools assign a site coordinator and a mentor. They can be the same person or different people; however, the mentor needs to be a certified teacher.
Nominate the student(s) taking the IOAPA course(s). Completing the school registration page sends the principal or other administrator an automated email with a link to nominate the student.
Confirm that the student has self-enrolled in the course. Once the student has been nominated, an email will be automatically sent to the student to enroll themselves in the actual course. Be sure to have students check their junk mail folders, as automated emails sometimes get filtered there. Students should complete this process and be sure to click submit when they’re done.

After registering, be sure to complete any College Board requirements for offering AP courses:

Register your school with the College Board.
Complete the AP Course Audit process for Online/Distance Learning courses by the end of January in order to be able to label courses as “AP” on students’ transcripts. Instructions for completing this for Project STEM courses can be found here.
Encourage high school students to take the AP exam and order all AP exams by the College Board’s deadline. Also, as mentioned above, be on the lookout for emails about applying for our IOAPA AP exam scholarships.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions or concerns.

Resources for IOAPA Computer Science courses

Mentors of Iowa Online AP Academy’s (IOAPA) computer science (CS) courses have slightly different tasks than those required for mentoring other courses. This is due to Project STEM being a curriculum provider as opposed to an online school. More information about our CS courses and the role of mentors in Project STEM can be found here. However, Project STEM provides a wealth of resources to students and mentors that are helpful for navigating this role.

Getting Started

Project STEM offers a set of onboarding videos to help mentors get started.

At the beginning of the year, you will receive an email from a member of the IOAPA team with specifics for mentoring Project STEM courses. This will include information such as a suggested timeline of due dates, the opportunity to set up an orientation, and reminders of points of contact.

You should also receive an email from the support team at Project STEM with a specific list of resources at the start of the year.

During the Semester

Student and Teacher forums provide access to a team of teaching assistants available 7 days a week to provide students a space to ask questions about coursework and answer mentor’s questions about facilitating courses.

Project STEM’s Help Center page provides a wealth of detailed guides for most tasks that students and mentors will run into, including (but not limited to): account setup, accessing the forums, and completing the AP Course Audit.

The Teacher Resource Sidebar within Canvas provides mentors with information such as syllabi, pacing guides (anticipated time need to complete assignments), and explanations for the few scored tasks in AP CS Principles.

Technical Support & Administrative Support

support@projectstem.org is available for technical support. The initial email from Project STEM sent at the beginning of the year also includes the direct contact person at Project STEM for IOAPA mentors.

Additionally, feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any other questions that may arise.

Looking to go a step further?

IOAPA mentors also have access to Project STEM’s Professional Development Courses. In addition to information about using Canvas, they also provide training for mentors who might be interested in learning more about the curriculum and teaching computer science courses.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students. Keep an eye out for our next blog post for more information about fall enrollment.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Introduction to IOAPA Computer Science courses

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) offers three online computer science (CS) courses for Iowa students who don’t have access to these courses within their school district. These courses are offered through the curriculum provider Project STEM. Current computer science course offerings include:

High School

AP Computer Science A (Java): This course introduces students to the Java programming language while emphasizing universal language techniques like syntax, semantics, and readability. This allows the student to understand and master important concepts that will apply to programming problems in many additional languages.
AP Computer Science Principles: This is an introductory college-level computing curriculum that introduces students to the breadth of the field of computer science. The major areas of study in the curriculum are organized around big ideas that encompass ideas foundational to studying computer science.

Middle School

Computer Science Python Fundamentals: An introductory course for students brand new to programming that teaches the foundations of computer science. This course prepares students for AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles, as well as helps build problem-solving skills.

More information about these courses can be found in our course catalog. Additionally, Fall 2023 enrollment for these courses is now open!

Mentors do not need to have any previous CS teaching experience or knowledge to facilitate a course within Project STEM. The curriculum and lessons for these courses are already prepared. However, mentoring these courses differs from others offered by IOAPA in that there is no teacher provided by Project STEM to facilitate the course. This makes the role of mentors slightly different for Project STEM courses. The majority of assignments are assigned grades automatically as your students submit them. This is particularly true in the CS Python Fundamentals and AP Computer Science A courses.

The AP Computer Science Principles course requires the most mentor involvement, as has always been the case. This course requires students to submit some essay questions that need to be graded by mentors. However, these assignments have a rubric in the Teacher Resource Sidebar, which gives mentors all of the information they will need to accurately grade the essays. Additionally, mentors and students can ask Project STEM’s Teacher Assistant team questions in their forums at any time. While teacher assistants cannot make grading decisions, they can provide guidance and answer specific questions mentors may have about the content.

Additionally, as there are no built-in teachers for Project STEM courses, AP Computer Science mentors will need to be listed as the teacher of record on the AP course audit. However, College Board does not allow the teacher of record and AP coordinator to be the same person. So, although our policies do not require that the two roles be filled by separate people, this will be necessary for the two Project STEM AP courses. Therefore, schools where the same person usually fills the AP Coordinator and mentor roles will need to consider alternatives. Step-by-step instructions for completing these course audits can be found at the following links for AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students. Keep an eye out for our next blog post, which will talk more about Project STEM resources available to students and mentors.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

IOAPA Spring AP Exam Scholarships

IOAPA offers AP exam scholarships for low-income students completing courses through our program. Applications for this opportunity are currently open, and we want to encourage you to apply if you have eligible students. The application deadline for this funding is March 17, 2023. Please click here for access to this online application.

Eligibility

Students who qualify for the free/reduced-cost lunch program will receive preference. Low-income students not meeting FRL guidelines will be considered if funding is still available.
Low-income students in non-rural schools will be considered if funding is available.
Students must be enrolled in an IOAPA Advanced Placement course during the 2022-2023 school year. Preference will be given to students in AP courses that start in the spring semester. Students taking academic year courses will be considered if funding is still available.
Funding must be used for the exam associated with the IOAPA course the student is taking during the 2022-2023 school year, not a different exam.
Funding is limited. Not all eligible students may receive funding.

Process

The per-exam cost for the 2022-23 school year is $62 for students eligible for free/reduced-cost lunch. Schools should plan to pay the $62 per student to the College Board. Schools with students who receive this scholarship should plan to submit an invoice to the Belin-Blank Center after students have taken the AP exams, along with documentation showing they have paid the College Board for these students’ exams by June 1st, 2023. There will be no reimbursement if a student does not take the exam.
Funding is limited to only one AP exam per student.
The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. If schools are already paying for AP exams, they should not request this funding.
The deadline for submitting applications is March 17, 2023.
Awards will be announced by March 24, 2023.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students. Keep an eye out for information about our upcoming fall enrollment period.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Ordering AP Exams for Spring only courses

As you may know, an important deadline is approaching if your students are taking Spring semester-only AP courses. AP exams for your students enrolled in one-term, spring semester courses must be ordered by March 15, 2023. Courses that began after November 15 are included in this deadline. This is also the deadline to make changes to existing orders (click here for instructions and check here for additional deadlines). Unfortunately, even if your students are taking their AP course(s) through IOAPA, our team cannot place these orders for your school. Each school must order its own exams.

More information about this can be found on page 64 of the AP Coordinator Manual Part I. Here’s an excerpt for your convenience:

For Students Taking Courses That Begin After November 15
There’s not an option for a second-semester exam only section. You may have students from another school—for instance, a virtual school—who are taking an exam at your school but at the school they attend they’re taking a corresponding course that begins after the November 15 final ordering deadline. You may need to submit the exam order for these students after November 15.

In this case, the student should be enrolled in both:

The second-semester class section for the subject at the school they attend.
The student’s Order Exam? status should be No for this class section.

AND

The exam only section for the subject at your school. The student’s Order Exam?
status should be Yes for this exam only section.

By being enrolled in both the exam only section and the second-semester class section for the subject, the late order fee isn’t applied if you submit the exam order for this student after November 15.

BEST PRACTICE: Make sure the student is enrolled in both the second-semester class section at the school they attend and the exam only section for your school before you submit the student’s exam order.

Following these instructions should ensure that schools are not charged fees for late ordering. However, to be safe you might reach out to Edmentum to ensure that your students are enrolled in MyAP on their end to fulfill College Board’s requirements. Note: It is also Edmentum’s MyAP sections that allow students to access the resources available there for their course.

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) is a partnership between the Belin-Blank Center and the State of Iowa to provide free access to 30 advanced online courses for Iowa students. This program is for Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district and therefore reduces geographic and resource-related barriers to success. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students.

We also offer AP exam scholarships for IOAPA students! Keep an eye out for more information on the spring application process in the coming weeks.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Spring Computer Science Course for Advanced Middle Schoolers

Iowa Online AP Academy’s (IOAPA) curriculum provider, Project STEM, has made its CS Python Fundamentals course available for IOAPA middle school students to take as a condensed one-semester version of the course this spring. IOAPA provides free access to high-quality, online, advanced course offerings for Iowa students who would not otherwise have access to these courses in their schools. These courses are offered asynchronously so they can fit into any schedule. In addition, our middle school program allows students in grades 6-8 to take high-school-level classes online while still in middle school. This means that advanced middle school students interested in exploring Computer Science or STEM can start their journey in January!

CS Python Fundamentals (formerly called Introduction to Computer Science) is an introductory course for students new to programming that teaches the foundations of computer science. No prerequisites are required. In this course, students will learn problem-solving strategies, software design, and the foundations of computer science using two key tools: the Project STEM programming environment and EarSketch, a software package that turns your code into music. This course prepares students for further computer science coursework such as AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles and helps to develop critical thinking skills.

Spring enrollment is open for IOAPA courses as well! More information about our other spring courses can be found here. While our registration cutoff for this coming semester is December 16th, we will accept late registration for this course until January 2, 2023 in order to provide schools and students time to register for this opportunity. To begin, if your school is new to IOAPA or has not yet registered for this year, visit our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) and review the Getting Started information. If you are ready to register, head over to the registration section of our website and click “Register Now”. If you are trying to register after the normal registration cutoff of December 16th, please email ioapa@belinblank.org to get a school-specific late registration link.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

Advanced Placement Opens Doors

The Belin-Blank Center has provided challenging programs for decades. Research suggests that when bright students’ readiness is matched with curriculum and instruction, they are more engaged at school. Advanced Placement^® classes are just one vehicle we use to bring out the best in students.

Advanced Placement (AP)^® is a program created by the College Board College in the United States and Canada. AP^® offers a college-level curriculum to students while in high school. The AP^® curriculum for various subjects is created for the College Board by a panel (including college-level educators) with expertise in a specific field. Many colleges and universities grant placement and/or credit students based on AP^® exam scores. For a high school course to have the designation, it must be audited by the College Board.

There are several benefits of taking Advanced Placement^® classes. AP^® classes serve as excellent preparation for college. Their content aligns with introductory college courses. AP^® classes on a transcript communicate to college admissions that a student is motivated and ready for college’s rigors, especially at selective colleges and universities. AP^® classes bolster the strength of an application and could help raise it to the top of the pile of applicants. The content and instructional strategies in AP^® classes foster engagement, which is especially important for students tackling rigorous coursework. Finally, students can often translate a good score on the end-of-term AP^® Exam into tuition savings, as many colleges will count such scores towards a student’s general education requirements. Research has found that students who take at least one AP^® class are more likely to perform better in their first year in college than peers who did not take one (regardless of whether they took an AP^® exam or not).

Please visit the Advanced Placement^® link of the UI Admission website for more information on Advanced Placement^® and the University of Iowa.

Iowa Online AP Academy

Geography can seriously impact the availability of advanced coursework. Offering AP® courses in rural schools is often difficult due to small class sizes and a lack of resources. The Belin-Blank Center’s Iowa Online AP® Academy (IOAPA) partners with the State of Iowa to provide free access to various online advanced courses for Iowa students who do not have access to these courses in their schools. IOAPA offers fifteen different AP^® classes (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, US History, and English Literature) to almost 100 Iowa schools this semester. Registration for the Spring 2023 semester is open now. Please visit the IOAPA website for more information.

Check Out IOAPA

The Belin-Blank Center is also proud to be the only approved AP® training site in the state. Each summer, we offer Advanced Placement® Summer Institute (APSI) for teachers to acquire AP® preparation from expert consultants and network with like-minded educators. In Summer 2023, we will offer three weeks of APSI (two on-campus and one online). Like the philosophy of access to AP® for students through IOAPA, the Center commits to providing an online APSI option, so teachers seeking training can attend regardless of location. The APSI offerings for Summer 2023 include Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, Computer Science & Principles, English Language, English Literature, Government & Politics, Macroeconomics, Psychology, Spanish Language & Culture, Statistics, US History, and World History. Please visit the APSI website for more information, including requirements for the Iowa teacher grant that covers most of the APSI registration fee.

Learn About AP Summer Institute

Fall 22 AP® Exam Scholarship Winners!

Congratulations to our AP Scholarship Exam recipients! This fall, we were able to award more than 25 scholarships to students participating in the Belin Blank Center’s Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA). The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa by working to reduce financial barriers for these students.

AP® Exam Scholarship Winners!

The Belin-Blank Center offered scholarships for AP® Exams with priority given to rural students with financial needs. We are pleased to announce the Mentors and Site coordinators that are awarded scholarships for their students!:

Susan Fritzell, Marshalltown High School
Jadyn Schutjer, Emmetsburg High School
Joan Enockson, Estherville Lincoln Central High School
Laurie Eyre, Maharishi School
Paulina Rodenburg, Glenwood High School

As funds permit, we will continue to offer these AP® exam scholarships. Keep an eye out early in the spring semester for more information on the application process of IOAPA students taking spring courses. Additionally, Spring enrollment is still open for IOAPA’s spring semester courses until December 16, 2022. As always, feel free to reach to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions.

IOAPA Spring enrollment is now open!

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) registration for Spring 2023 classes is now open! The primary aim of this program is to provide access to Iowa students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district. In addition to courses that run for the full academic year, IOAPA also provides free access to asynchronous, one-semester, advanced courses for Iowa students in 6th grade and above. These courses can be perfect options for students needing more advanced coursework during the school year or who would like to add an additional AP course to their transcript. Additionally, AP exam scholarships are also available to eligible IOAPA students taking spring semester courses.

ONE-SEMESTER COURSES OFFERED

4 AP courses are available to high school students.
- AP Macroeconomics
- AP Microeconomics
- AP Psychology
- AP U.S. Government
4 advanced courses are available to middle school students. These courses are designed for high school students and made available to advanced students in grades 6-8.
- Creative Writing
- Psychology
- U.S. History to the Civil War
- CS Python Fundamentals (formerly Intro to Computer Science)

Course descriptions and syllabi for each course can be located by clicking “Learn More” on the course’s entry in our Course Catalog.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Students who are taking year-long courses do not need to re-enroll; they will be automatically enrolled in the spring semester of their course unless we receive notification from site staff that they would prefer to do otherwise.

If your school has already registered with us this year (i.e., if you currently have IOAPA students), then you will be automatically redirected to the appropriate step in the registration process (nominating the student; see below for details).

Step-by-step course registration instructions are included below:

Register your school and assign a site coordinator and mentor. The first step is for principals to register their schools. They can do that on our website by clicking on Register. As part of this step, schools assign a site coordinator and a mentor. They can be the same person or different people; however, the mentor needs to be a certified teacher at the school. For spring semester courses, when schools have already registered during the current academic year: During spring semester registration, site coordinators are able to skip step 1, since the school is already registered for this academic year. You should still start by clicking Register on our website. You will then be redirected to step 2 (student nomination).
Nominate the student(s) taking the IOAPA course(s). Completing the school registration page sends the principal an automated email with a link to nominate the student. The principal either needs to complete the nomination or forward the link to the site coordinator or mentor to complete.
Confirm that the student has self-enrolled in the course. Once the student has been nominated, an email will be automatically sent to the student to enroll themselves in the actual course. Be sure to have students check their junk mail folders, as automated emails sometimes get filtered there. Students should complete this process and be sure to click submit when they’re done.

After registering, be sure to complete any College Board requirements for offering AP courses:

Register your school with the College Board.
Complete the AP Course Audit process for Online/Distance Learning courses by the end of January in order to be able to label courses as “AP” on students’ transcripts.
Encourage high school students to take the AP exam and order all AP exams by the College Board’s deadline. Also, as mentioned above, be on the lookout for emails about applying for our IOAPA AP exam scholarships.

Be on the lookout for information about Fall enrollment for the 2023-2024 academic year during the spring semester. More information about our program, academic year courses, and important dates can be found here.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions or concerns.

Advanced Coursework Opportunities Free for Iowa’s Rural Schools

The College Board’s Advanced Placement® (AP) program allows high school students to complete college-level coursework. Additionally, success on the associated AP exams can translate into college credit. In fact, AP credit is accepted or recognized by the three public universities in Iowa, as well as many colleges and universities throughout the country. This gives students the opportunity to earn college credit at a greatly reduced cost while still in high school. However, despite these benefits, rural schools still fall behind urban and suburban schools in their AP course offerings.

Providing the appropriate level of challenge to gifted and talented students is not always easy for rural schools. Offering AP courses requires additional resources such as teachers and training, and sometimes it is simply not possible to offer an AP course for only one or two students. The Iowa Online AP® Academy (IOAPA) provides free access to nearly 30 online advanced courses for Iowa students who would not otherwise have access to these courses in their schools. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students as well as high school-level courses for eligible middle school students. Unlike courses offered by community colleges, IOAPA’s AP courses are designed for bright high schoolers. They introduce college-level material in a way that is approachable for a high school student. IOAPA also offers AP exam scholarships to IOAPA high school students, with preference given to students from rural schools, so cost is no longer a barrier to taking an AP exam.

The IOAPA team also publishes the Iowa AP Index, another way to provide recognition to Iowa schools. The Iowa AP Index recognizes the Top 50 Iowa accredited public and nonpublic high schools for providing Advanced Placement opportunities to Iowa’s high school students. Every public and nonpublic high school in Iowa accredited by the state Department of Education and that administered AP exams the prior year is invited to participate. The Iowa AP Index for a given high school is the ratio of AP exams taken by its students (any grade) divided by the number of its graduating seniors. This means that smaller schools still have similar opportunities to be recognized for providing their students with advanced coursework.

The Belin-Blank Center will begin registration for spring semester IOAPA courses on November 7^th. If you have any questions about your Iowa school’s eligibility for IOAPA courses, email us at ioapa@belinblank.org.

Learn More

There’s room for your students in IOAPA!

Funding is still available through Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA) for Iowa students in 6^th-12^th grade! IOAPA provides Iowa students free access to high-quality, online, advanced course offerings not currently available within their school districts. These courses are offered asynchronously so they can fit into any schedule. We also offer scholarships to cover the cost of AP exams for some low-income students participating in an IOAPA course. Additionally, our team is available to support students and mentors every step of the way.

Our current course offerings include the 13 advanced courses for middle school students and 15 for high school students listed below.

Middle School

Algebra I (Honors)
Algebra II (Honors)
Biology (Honors)
Computer Science Python Fundamentals
Creative Writing
Environmental Science
Geometry (Honors)
Physical Science
Precalculus (Honors)
Probability and Statistics
Psychology
Spanish I
U.S. History to the Civil War

High School

AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP Computer Science A
AP Computer Science Principles
AP English Language & Composition
AP English Literature & Composition
AP Environmental Science
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP Psychology
AP Spanish Language & Culture
AP Statistics
AP U.S. Government & Politics
AP U.S. History

More information about this program is on our website. There you can find course descriptions, information about getting started, and support materials. You can also find more information about School Eligibility and Requirements here. If you are ready to register students, contact us at ioapa@belinblank.org by September 2nd.

Full funding available! Remember to schedule I-Excel testing for incoming sixth graders!

UPDATE: I-Excel testing is now available this spring at no cost for incoming 6^th graders.

As we begin to look towards Fall 2022, please note that we have changed our middle school testing requirements for IOAPA middle school students. This testing should be scheduled as soon as possible to meet the June 15th deadline for prospective students without previously I-Excel scores.

Middle School Requirements

The Belin-Blank Center has instituted a requirement for current 5^th and 6^th graders (who will be in 6^th or 7^th grade in the fall) to take the above-level test I-Excel. The reasoning behind this new requirement is:

On average, IOAPA students taking middle school courses struggled more than IOAPA students taking high school courses. Therefore, we want to help educators identify students who are ready for these rigorous courses.
Research shows that above-level testing provides an excellent method of discovering students who are ready for advanced coursework such as IOAPA courses for middle school students (Assouline & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 2012).
Research shows that even the short-term intervention of taking an above-level test such as I-Excel provides a boost to students’ academic achievement (Rogers, 2015). These opportunities may be especially important for low-income and disadvantaged students.
The Belin-Blank Center has developed I-Excel to provide an above-level test that is affordable and accessible. Typically, the cost of I-Excel testing is $45 per student. However, the Belin-Blank Center has obtained funding for this purpose! So, we are pleased to announce that schools that are considering identifying students for IOAPA courses may offer this testing at no cost to the student or school.

To schedule an I-Excel assessment or learn more about the testing process, please email assessment@belinblank.org. In your email, indicate that you are interested in testing prospective IOAPA students. If you have other questions about IOAPA courses, email ioapa@belinblank.org.

IOAPA Fall enrollment is now open!

Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) registration for Fall 2022 classes is now open! IOAPA provides free access to asynchronous advanced courses for Iowa students in 6th grade and above. A primary aim of this program is to provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district. To aid in this goal, the Belin-Blank Center also provides AP exam scholarships to eligible IOAPA students each semester in an effort to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa.

COURSES OFFERED

15 AP courses are available to high school students. Note: Beginning Fall 2022, the drop deadline and fee will also apply to AP computer science courses.
13 advanced courses are available to middle school students. These courses are designed for high school students and made available to students in grades 6-8. Note: Beginning in Fall 2022, we will require above-level testing for middle school students. More information about this can be found here. When in doubt, you can also review our guidelines.

Course descriptions and syllabi for each course can be located by clicking “Learn More” on the course’s entry in our Course Catalog.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Step-by-step course registration instructions are included below:

Register your school and assign a site coordinator and mentor. The first step is for principals to register their schools. They can do that on our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) by clicking on Register. As part of this step, schools assign a site coordinator and a mentor. They can be the same person or different people; however, the mentor needs to be a certified teacher.
Nominate the student(s) taking the IOAPA course(s). Completing the school registration page sends the principal an automated email with a link to nominate the student. The principal either needs to complete the nomination or forward the link to the site coordinator or mentor to complete.
Confirm that the student has self-enrolled in the course. Once the student has been nominated, an email will be automatically sent to the student to enroll themselves in the actual course. Be sure to have students check their junk mail folders, as the automated emails sometimes get filtered there. Students should complete this process and be sure to click submit when they’re done.

After registering, be sure to complete any College Board requirements for offering AP courses:

Register your school with the College Board.
Complete the AP Course Audit process for Online/Distance Learning courses by the end of January in order to be able to label courses as “AP” on students’ transcripts.
Encourage high school students to take the AP exam and order all AP exams by the College Board’s deadline. Also, as mentioned above, be on the lookout for emails about applying for our IOAPA AP exam scholarships.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions or concerns.

Guide for IOAPA Middle School Courses

We are excited to share the IOAPA Middle School Course infographic! This infographic uses data from 2020-2021 IOAPA students and may be helpful for upcoming fall enrollment decisions. This infographic, our high school infographic, and other useful information can be found here on our website. On this page, you can also find our course catalog and more information about individual course options.

Guide for IOAPA High School Courses

We are excited to share the IOAPA High School Course infographic! This infographic uses data from 2020-2021 IOAPA students and may be helpful for upcoming fall enrollment decisions. This infographic, our middle school infographic, and other useful information can be found here on our website. On this page, you can also find our course catalog and more information about policies and individual course options.

IOAPA AP® exam scholarship winners

This year, the Belin-Blank Center was pleased to continue receiving funding to offer scholarships for AP® Exams for IOAPA students with financial needs. IOAPA mentors were able to submit applications to receive this funding. The purpose of these scholarships is to pay for the cost of AP® exams for low-income students in rural schools who are currently participating in IOAPA courses. We typically offer these scholarships once in the fall and again in the spring to extend this opportunity to students in both full-year and one-semester courses.

This year we have been able to award over 50 scholarships! We are pleased to congratulate the following school staff who applied for these scholarships for their students!

Jadyn Schutjer, Emmetsburg High School
Joan Enockson, Estherville Lincoln-Central High school
Molly Sterner, Oskaloosa High School
Laurie Eyre, Maharishi School
Paulina Rodenburg, Glenwood Community High School
Jill Janes, Boone High School
Patti Kuennen, Oelwein High School
Taryn Mottet, Ottumwa High School
Hollie Weber, Central Lee High School

Congratulations to all the IOAPA students who received AP® exam scholarships this year! We wish them the best of luck on their AP® exams and other academic endeavors. As funds permit, we will continue to offer these AP exam scholarships. Be on the lookout next year for more information about the application process.

Using Above-Level Testing for IOAPA Decisions: Focus on Current 5th and 6th Graders

Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, IOAPA will require 6^th or 7^th grade students to have taken I-Excel in order to be eligible for IOAPA middle school courses. Additionally, we highly recommend using the ACT to inform eligibility for older students to take IOAPA courses. Two programs that are part of the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) and the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS), work together to help Iowa teachers discover talented students and develop their abilities. For more on how BESTS and IOAPA work together, check out our IOAPA-BESTS blog roundup.

Why Test?

The Belin-Blank Center has instituted a requirement for above-level testing with I-Excel for current 5^th and 6^th graders (who will be in 6^th or 7^th grade in the fall) for a number of reasons.

On average, IOAPA students taking middle school courses seemed to struggle more than IOAPA students taking high school courses. We want to help educators find the students who are ready for these rigorous courses.

Research shows that above-level testing provides an excellent method of discovering students who are ready for advanced coursework such as IOAPA courses for middle school students (Assouline & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 2012).

The Belin-Blank Center has developed I-Excel to provide an above-level test that is affordable and accessible. The use of I-Excel also allows IOAPA to offer reduced-cost group testing sessions, as well as no-cost group testing for schools that have not provided I-Excel testing in the past three years.

Research shows that even the short-term intervention of taking an above-level test such as I-Excel provides a boost to student’s academic achievement (Rogers, 2015). These opportunities may be especially important for low-income and disadvantaged students.

Now is the time to begin the above-level testing process for current 5^th and 6^th graders. (IOAPA fall registration opens April 1, and we expect seats to fill quickly.) There are several steps for participation in BESTS testing prior to IOAPA registration.

Find the students who are ready for additional challenges; these are the students who will be recommended for participation in BESTS. Typically, students who have earned scores at or above the 90^th percentile on grade-level standardized tests, such as the Iowa Assessments, are strong candidates for above-level testing. Students who have earned scores at the “Advanced” level on ISASP are also good candidates.

Notify the students identified in Step 1 and their families about the opportunity to participate in above-level testing using BESTS.

Contact assessment@belinblank.org as soon as possible to set up I-Excel testing for 5^th and 6^th graders. I-Excel testing sessions for current 5^th-6^th graders are flexible to schedule. However, it’s still important to reach out soon to ensure that the process can be completed in time for your desired test date(s). Please allow approximately 6 weeks from the time of registration to having the assessment results in hand. I-Excel testing will be required for students interested in taking 6^th-7^th grade courses next school year, so we highly recommend testing eligible 5^th and 6^th graders this year.

Inform students and parents about test results and the recommended course of action following testing.

Use the recommendations found in the individualized student test report to help determine which students to recommend for IOAPA middle school courses.

Costs

The cost for I-Excel is $45 per student when groups of 4 or more students are testing.  Iowa schools using I-Excel for the first time in the past 3 years can request up to 20 free student test registrations to try out I-Excel with their students. Schools receive group results as well as individual student reports following I-Excel testing. Families also receive the individualized report.

These individualized reports explain their test results and compare them to other talented students in the same grade.
Fee reductions are available for students eligible for the free/reduced cost lunch program.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not require ACT testing because ACT testing has been difficult to obtain for 7^th-9^th graders in the last few years, due to COVID. (ACT has prioritized the testing of 11^th and 12^th graders.) However, the Belin-Blank Center highly recommends that 7^th to 9^th graders take the ACT before taking high school IOAPA courses. For more information about ACT registration, see https://belinblank.education.uiowa.edu/students/bests/#7-9-grade.

For more information, see:

What’s the Best-Kept Secret in Gifted Education? Above-Level Testing — This post offers an overview of the theory and research behind above-level testing.

An Easy Way to Learn More About Your Students’ Needs— Specific steps for setting up I-Excel are included in this post.

References

Assouline, S. G., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (2012). The talent search model of gifted identification. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30(1), 45-59.

Rogers, K. B. (2015). The Academic, Socialization, and Psychological Effects of Acceleration: Research Synthesis. In S. G. Assouline, N. Colangelo, J. VanTassel-Baska, & A. Lupkowski-Shoplik (Eds.), A Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses That Hold Back America’s Brightest Students, Vol.2 (pp. 19-29). Iowa City, IA: Belin-Blank Center.

AP Exam Scholarships for IOAPA students

The Belin-Blank Center is pleased to continue offering AP exam scholarships for low-income current IOAPA students from rural schools.

We are now accepting applications for AP exam scholarships for IOAPA students! IOAPA principals, site coordinators, and mentors can apply for this funding opportunity until March 17, 2022!

To complete the application, click here.

The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. If schools are already paying for AP exams, they should not request this funding. Funding for this application is only available for students who are taking IOAPA Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the 2021-22 school year. Funding is limited to only one AP exam per student.

Eligibility

Students who qualify for the free/reduced-cost lunch program will receive preference. Low-income students not meeting FRL guidelines will be considered, if funding is still available.
Low-income students in non-rural schools will be considered, if funding is available.
Students must be enrolled in an IOAPA Advanced Placement course during the 2021-2022 school year. Priority will be given to students taking one-semester spring courses.
Funding is to be used for the exam associated with the IOAPA course the student is taking during the 2021-2022 school year, not a different exam.

Funding is limited. Not all eligible students may receive funding.

A Person Wearing a Smart Watch while Holding a Pencil

The per-exam cost for the 2021-22 school year is $62 for students eligible for free/reduced cost lunch. Schools that receive funding should plan to pay the $62 per student to the College Board. These schools will then need to submit an invoice to the Belin-Blank Center after students have taken the AP exams along with documentation showing they have paid the College Board for these students’ exams. There will be no reimbursement if a student does not take the exam. More information about this will be provided in the acceptance letters that are sent to site staff.

Awards will be announced by March 24, 2022. Also as a reminder, the deadline to order all one-term, spring semester AP exams is March 15, 2022.

Please email us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions!

Using BESTS for IOAPA Decisions

As you may know, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) and the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS) team up to provide identification and programming services to help Iowa teachers discover talented students and develop their abilities. For more on how BESTS and IOAPA work together, check out our IOAPA-BESTS blog roundup. Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, IOAPA will require 6^th or 7^th grade students to have taken I-Excel in order to be eligible for IOAPA courses. We highly recommend using the ACT to inform eligibility for older students to take IOAPA courses. Testing is not required for students registering for Spring 2022 courses, although it is recommended.

In order to use this year’s above-level testing scores to inform eligibility for next spring’s IOAPA courses, now is the time to begin the above-level testing process. (Spring registration opens November 8, and we expect seats to fill quickly.) You may also use above-level test results from this academic year to decide which students you will register for fall 2022 classes, when that registration is available. There are four basic steps for participation in BESTS.

Find the students who are ready for additional challenge; these are the students who will be recommended for participation in BESTS. Typically, students who have earned scores at or above the 90^th percentile on grade-level standardized tests, such as the Iowa Assessments, are strong candidates for above-level testing.
Notify the students identified in Step 1 and their families about the opportunity to participate in BESTS.
Contact assessment@belinblank.org as soon as possible to set up testing. We have two options for testing, one for 7^th-9^th graders, and one for 4^th-6^th graders.
7^th-9^th graders take the ACT. Due to the pandemic, ACT has been prioritizing testing 11^th and 12^th graders. We plan to offer above-level testing for our 7^th-9^th grade students later this academic year. If you would like to be notified when testing is available for 7^th-9^th graders, visit belinblank.org/talent-search for specific information and email assessment@belinblank.org to be added to the notification list. ACT testing is not required, but it is highly recommended.
4^th-6^th graders take I-Excel. I-Excel testing sessions for current 4^th-6^th graders are flexible to schedule. However, it’s still important to reach out soon to ensure that the process can be completed in time for your desired test date(s) and IOAPA spring registration. Please allow approximately 6 weeks from the time of registration to having the assessment results in hand. I-Excel testing will be required for students interested in taking 6^th-7^th grade courses next school year, so we highly recommend testing eligible 5^th and 6^th graders this year.
Inform students and parents about test results and the recommended course of action following testing.

Costs

The cost for ACT registration will be announced at a later time. Students testing through the Belin-Blank Center will receive access to individualized reports explaining their test results and comparing them to other talented students in the same grade.
The cost for I-Excel is $45 per student when groups of 4 or more students are testing. Iowa schools using I-Excel for the first time in the past 3 years can request up to 20 free student test registrations to try out I-Excel with their students. Schools receive group results as well as individual student reports following I-Excel testing. Families also receive the individualized report.
For both I-Excel and ACT, fee reductions are available for students eligible for the free/reduced cost lunch program.

For more information, see:

What’s the Best-Kept Secret in Gifted Education? Above-Level Testing — This post offers an overview of the theory and research behind above-level testing.

An Easy Way to Learn More About Your Students’ Needs— Specific steps for setting up I-Excel are included in this post.

Have Your 7th-9th Graders Registered to Take the ACT? — This post includes useful information about using the ACT as an above-level test for 7th through 9th grade students. Current information about fees, test session dates, and registration deadlines can be found at www.belinblank.org/talent-search.

Update on IOAPA’s Computer Science Courses

This year, there are some changes with IOAPA’s computer science (CS) courses. Our curriculum for these courses is now provided by a non-profit organization called ProjectSTEM.

So, what will this transition look like for IOAPA students and mentors? Much of the experience will be the same as before. The course material is the same, but there are some slight differences within the platform. You can find helpful information for navigating ProjectSTEM’s website on their help center or reach their support team at info@projectstem.org.

Below are some helpful notes about this transition:

Be sure to keep an eye out for emails from Project STEM. This includes adding emails from the projectstem.org domain to your safe sender list.

Our middle school course formerly called Introduction to Computer Science is now called CS Python Fundamentals.

The CS Python Fundamentals course is only offered as a full year course. A one-semester option is not available.

A common question about our CS courses is what does “more mentor involvement” look like? Mentors do not need to have any previous CS teaching experience or knowledge to facilitate a course within ProjectSTEM. The curriculum and lessons for these courses are already prepared. Additionally, the majority of assignments are assigned grades automatically as your students submit them. This is particularly true in the CS Python Fundamentals and AP Computer Science A courses.

The AP Computer Science Principles course requires the most mentor involvement, as has always been the case. This course requires students to submit some essay questions that need to be graded by mentors. However, these assignments have a rubric in the Teacher Resource Sidebar, which gives mentors the information they will need to accurately grade the essays. Additionally, mentors and students can ask ProjectSTEM’s Teacher Assistant team questions in their forums. While teacher assistants cannot make grading decisions, they can provide guidance and answer specific questions mentors may have about the content.

For more information about ProjectSTEM, visit their help center. If you have more specific questions, contact their support team at info@projectstem.org. And as always, please feel free to reach out to the IOAPA team with any questions or concerns at ioapa@belinblank.org.

Registration Open for AP® Summer Institute

Registration is now open for the University of Iowa’s AP® Summer Institute (APSI), hosted by the Belin-Blank Center! APSI will take place online from June 28 – July 2, 2021.

“Even if you are not going to teach an AP® class, the content and methods from the APSI at the Belin-Blank Center open up a myriad of teaching possibilities. I admit it—I was so energized about content after attending APSI!!”

-Jill Schany, APSI participant from Emmetsburg High School

APSI workshops offer online professional learning for these AP® courses:

Calculus AB
Computer Science Principles
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Human Geography
Physics 1
Psychology
Spanish Language
Statistics
US Government & Politics
US History
World History

AP® courses introduce high school students to academically challenging material and offer a chance to earn college credit by taking AP® exams. APSI prepares teachers to develop and teach an AP® course.

College Board-endorsed AP® consultants instruct each workshop. APSI participants will discuss questions about AP® subject-area content and receive an overview of the Advanced Placement program®. They will also learn how to complete the College Board’s required AP® Course Audit.

Participants can also earn academic credit (with a 50% scholarship!) or Iowa Licensure Renewal Units for successful completion of an APSI workshop. Grants of $450 are available to Iowa teachers through the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA).

Click below to learn more or register today!

Learn More

IOAPA Registration is Open for Fall 2021

The Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) offers Iowa students free access to online advanced course offerings for students who would otherwise be unable to find these courses offered in their school district.

Additionally, the Belin-Blank Center provides AP exam scholarships to eligible IOAPA students each semester, in an effort to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa.

IOAPA registration for Fall 2021 classes is now open! This includes full-year courses, as well as one-semester fall courses. Registration for Spring 2022 one-semester courses will open in November.

Visit our website for a wealth of helpful information, including our course catalog, important dates, registration, and information about getting started along with support materials designed to help you and your student make decisions about course selection.

COURSES OFFERED

15 AP courses are available to high school students.
14 courses are available to middle school students. These courses are designed for high school students and made available to students in grades 6-8. While not yet required, we still recommend above-level testing as the best method in identifying students for advanced coursework. When in doubt, you can also review our guidelines here.

Course descriptions and syllabi for each course can be located by clicking “Learn More” on the course’s entry in our Course Catalog.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

To begin, visit our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) and review the Getting Started information. When you are ready to register, navigate back to belinblank.org/ioapa and click Register.

Step-by-step course registration instructions are included below:

Register your school and assign a site coordinator and mentor. The first step is for principals to register their schools. They can do that on our website (belinblank.org/ioapa) by clicking on Register. As part of this step, schools assign a site coordinator and a mentor. They can be the same person or different people; however, the mentor needs to be a certified teacher at the school.
Nominate the student(s) taking IOAPA course(s). Completing the school registration page sends the principal an automated email with a link in it to nominate the student. The principal either needs to complete the nomination or forward the link to the site coordinator or mentor to complete.
Confirm that student has self-enrolled in the course. Once the student has been nominated, an email will be automatically sent to the student to enroll himself/herself in the actual course. Be sure to have students check their junk mail folders, as the automated emails sometimes get filtered there. Students should complete this process and be sure to click submit when they’re done.

After registering, be sure to complete any College Board requirements for offering AP courses:

Register your school with the College Board.
Complete the AP Course Audit process for Online/Distance Learning courses by the end of January in order to be able to label courses as “AP” on students’ transcripts.
Encourage high school students to take the AP exam, and order all AP exams by the College Board’s deadline.

As always, please feel free to reach out to us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions or concerns.

Making Research-Backed Educational Placement Decisions During a Pandemic: IOAPA and Other Opportunities

Spring is coming, and that means it’s time to start planning for next year. In a typical year, this is when we would recommend having students participate in above-level testing. Above-level testing helps educators to determine which students might need advanced programming, such as subject acceleration, because it measures students’ aptitudes in specific subjects. Using an objective measure such as an above-level test helps us to make informed decisions. During the challenging year brought upon us by COVID-19, we might have wondered if it was possible to conduct this sort of testing in a school setting. The good news is, yes, it can be done!

Over the last few months, the Belin-Blank Center has assisted numerous educators throughout the country, including in Iowa schools, to conduct above-level testing with their 4^th-6^th grade students using I-Excel. We require an in-person proctor, so that means testing sessions have had fewer students spread apart in a classroom with other appropriate safety precautions in place. When considering your options for testing, please make sure to consult local and national public health guidance. Schools that typically test large numbers of students have provided the testing in several different sessions, so there were fewer students in each group. Schools have then been able to use the test results to inform decisions about placing students in advanced programing, such as IOAPA.

IOAPA, a longstanding online accelerative program for students in Iowa, has an impressive record of student success. Middle and high school students take advanced online courses in a program administered by the Belin-Blank Center and in cooperation with local school mentors. The IOAPA program was created especially for students in rural Iowa schools who do not have access to advanced courses in their home schools. They work online, with the support of a local teacher/mentor. We have found that one of the best predictors of success in IOAPA courses is the objective information gleaned from above-level testing, where we measure a student’s aptitude in specific subjects. Currently (due to the pandemic), we do not require above-level testing. However, we highly recommend it. The data provided by I-Excel testing can help educators determine which students would benefit from the rigors of the IOAPA program. If at least 10 students from a particular school or district have participated in testing, educators receive an aggregate report that helps them to see how students’ scores compare to each other and assists them in making these decisions.

In some cases, parents are interested in having their children tested individually, so they can learn more about their child’s aptitudes. They can set up individual testing with the assistance of a local educator who serves as the test proctor. After the testing, parents receive an individual student report, which they can share with educators at their child’s school.

It has indeed been a challenging year. It is good to know that, in spite of the challenges, we still have a systematic process in place for assisting educators and their talented students to find the academic opportunities that they need.

AP® Exam Scholarship Winners!

Congratulations to our AP Scholarship Exam recipients! The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. Funding is still available for Fall and Spring IOAPA AP students! If you have students that are eligible, please apply for this funding by the final deadline of February 26, 2021. Please click here for access to this online application.

Visual Guide to IOAPA High School Courses

To aid in decisions about spring enrollment, we are excited to share the IOAPA High School Course infographic. This infographic uses data from 2019-2020 IOAPA students. This, along with our middle school infographic and other useful information, can be found on our website. On this page, you can also find our course catalog and more information about individual course options.

Visual Guide to IOAPA Middle School Courses

To aid in decisions about spring enrollment, we are excited to share the IOAPA Middle School Course infographic. This infographic uses data from 2019-2020 IOAPA students. This, along with our high school infographic and other useful information, can be found on our website, in the “Being Successful” section of the page. On this page, you can also find our course catalog and more information about individual course options.

IOAPA Classes 2020-2021

Welcome to the fall semester for IOAPA courses! During this busy time of year, we don’t want you to forget about some important information related to your IOAPA courses. Here are a few upcoming items for IOAPA.

If your students decide the class is not for them, not a problem! Just make sure to drop the course before September 14th to prevent the $350 drop fee. For more information about our drop policies, check out the IOAPA handbook on our website.
Check your email for messages from ioapa@belinblank.org. These emails contain important information and deadlines about the upcoming year. If you did not receive these emails, make sure to check your spam / junk folder.
Don’t forget: AP Coordinators need to order AP Exams by November 15, 2020! (Click here for instructions and check here for additional deadlines).
November 1, 2020: IOAPA spring registration opens. Keep this date in mind, we expect spring enrollment to fill quickly!
December 11, 2020: IOAPA fall classes end.

Helpful Tips to Start the Semester

Textbooks: Recommended textbooks for courses on APEX can be found by clicking “Learn more” on the relevant course(s) from the IOAPA course catalog. Edhesive courses do not require textbooks.

Online Support: APEX and Edhesive offer support guides and videos on their websites! Reach out to their customer service with technical questions.

IOAPA Students Rise to the Challenge

The 2020 spring semester was filled with uncertainty for many students. In response to COVID-19, all Iowa schools closed in mid-March, and all requirements for instructional hours were waived. Public districts could provide online learning options but could not require student participation. In spite of the impact of COVID-19, students who had already been participating in the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) kept working. Many IOAPA mentors expressed gratitude for IOAPA courses, as their students appreciated the consistency of already-established online courses with specific guidelines, objectives, and goals during a time of uncertainty. We were touched by their statements and wanted to share one with the Belin-Blank Center community.

One mentor set up a system to allow both the mentor and student to check in, and the mentor also scheduled virtual meetings to stay in contact and proctor exams. This mentor shared, “[The students] are very thankful for something structured and challenging to work on…it is helping them create some structure in their days.”

IOAPA provides free online advanced courses for Iowa students who otherwise do not have access to these courses at their schools. Although continued coursework was not required for Iowa schools, a majority of IOAPA students continued with their online courses, and many continued on to take an AP exam in May. A unique aspect of IOAPA and one of its greatest strengths is the personnel (i.e., the teacher-mentor) in the student’s home school district. Our IOAPA mentors have gone above and beyond to support students and continued to do so virtually during the pandemic. We are proud of our IOAPA students and grateful for our IOAPA mentors, site coordinators, and administrators for their continued dedication to serving students.

IOAPA & COVID-19: Updated Information about AP Exams

In regards to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we hope you are all doing well. We recognize this is a stressful time for everyone. We have created a number of blog posts regarding IOAPA and COVID-19. This one provides updated and key information on how the College Board is navigating the 2020 AP exams. Another blog post provides resources for navigating your online courses through APEX and Edhesive. This blog post provides internet access and educational/learning resources.

As a reminder, the College Board is providing free, remote learning resources and a new at-home testing option for this year’s AP Exams. Also, see Trevor Packer’s presentation regarding the 2020 AP Exam updates and for rationale behind the exam content. Please see below for more details.

Exam Dates

The College Board surveyed many AP teachers and students, and a majority preferred to test earlier, while the content is still fresh.

Exams will be given from May 11–22.
Makeup test dates will be available for each subject from June 1–5.
Students can take exams at home or in schools, if they reopen.
Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.
View the full testing schedule.

We encourage you to remind your students about exam dates for their courses.

Exam Format

Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately. Students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question.

Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. They’ll be able to type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo via their cell phones.
For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, plus an additional 5 minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up.
Certain courses—Art and Design: 2D; Art and Design: 3D; Computer Science Principles; Drawing; Research; and Seminar—will use portfolio submissions and will not have a separate online exam. All deadlines for these submissions have been extended to May 26, 2020, 11:59 p.m. ET. Teachers and students may receive separate course-specific communications.
Students taking world language and culture exams will complete two spoken tasks consistent with free-response questions 3 and 4 on the current AP Exam. Written responses will not be required. The College Board will provide additional details in the coming weeks to help students prepare.

Tips for testing on specific devices will be available in late April.

Confronting the Digital Divide

The College Board recognizes that the digital divide could prevent some low-income and rural students from participating. Working with partners, the College Board is investing so these students have the tools and connectivity they need to review AP content online and take the exam. If your students need mobile tools or connectivity, you can contact the College Board directly to let them know by April 24.

Exam Scores and College Credit

As usual, students’ work will be scored by our network of college faculty and AP teachers, and will be reported on a 1–5 scale. The College Board anticipates releasing scores as close to the usual July timeframe as possible.

The College Board is confident that the vast majority of higher ed institutions will award college credit as they have in the past. The College Board has spoken with hundreds of institutions across the country that support our solution for this year’s AP Exams.

Special Benefit for Teachers

To help support teachers and schools that are struggling to collect and score student work for course grades, the College Board will provide every AP teacher with their students’ responses from the online exams by May 26. Administrators and teachers can individually determine whether they’d like to use these results locally as part of a course grade or as a final exam.

Exam Security

Like many college-level exams, this year’s AP Exams will be open book/open note. The exam format and questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration, so points will not be earned from content that can be found in textbooks or online. However, students taking the exams may not consult with any other individuals during the testing period. The College Board will take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of each exam administration, as they do every year.

The College Board is confident that the vast majority of AP students will follow the rules for taking the exams. For the small number of students who may try to gain an unfair advantage, the College Board have a comprehensive and strict set of protocols in place to prevent and detect cheating. While some of these practices are confidential to maximize their effectiveness, students and education professionals can learn more about our security measures.

At a minimum, test takers should understand that those attempting to gain an unfair advantage will either be blocked from testing or their AP scores will be canceled, and their high school will be notified as will colleges or other organizations to which the student has already sent any College Board scores (including SAT® scores). And they may be prohibited from taking a future Advanced Placement® Exam as well as the SAT, SAT Subject Tests™, or CLEP® assessments.

Remote Instruction and Practice

On March 25, the College Board began offering free live AP review courses, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. The courses have been viewed more than 3.2 million times since they became available. On-demand lessons are now available for Art and Design, AP Capstone™, and Computer Science Principles.

In addition to sharing information about these classes with students, teachers who are providing remote instruction can use AP Classroom for most subjects. The College Board has now unlocked secure free-response questions in AP Classroom so teachers can digitally assign relevant practice questions students can take at home. Additional tips for helping your students practice are available.

Professional Development Opportunities

The College Board will be providing webinars, videos, and other resources to help AP teachers and coordinators leading up to exam day. Coordinators can register for live training on April 10 to learn more about exams.

Additional Information

The College Board has added frequently asked questions to the site so you can find answers to important topics, including information for students with accommodations, details about exam fees and cancellations, credit and placement, calculator policies, and more. The College Board will continue to make updates on the site and share them with you through email, online educator communities, and social media.

Your support is critical to ensuring students have the opportunity to earn college credit and placement. Thank you for all you’re doing during this unprecedented time.

We are already thinking of how this situation may affect the fall semester, and we are working on being as flexible as possible. Be on the lookout for future blog posts and emails that will provide information on next steps. Our goal is to determine how we can best support our IOAPA community! As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns at ioapa@belinblank.org

IOAPA & COVID-19: Internet & Educational Resources

In regards to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we hope you are all doing well. We recognize this is a stressful time for everyone. We have created a few blog posts regarding IOAPA and COVID-19, and we will continue to provide updates and new resources. This blog post provides internet access and educational/learning resources. This blog post will provide resources for navigating your online courses through APEX and Edhesive. Another blog post will discuss how the College Board is navigating COVID-19 with AP exams.

Internet Resources

We acknowledge the digital divide could prevent some students from continuing with their online IOAPA courses. We want to provide you with a few resources to combat this barrier:

The College Board is attempting to navigate this situation for students enrolled in AP courses. Please fill out this survey for the College Board to provide mobile tools or connectivity.
The University of Iowa is providing free drive-up wireless service to allow students, faculty, and staff who need high-speed internet Review the Drive-up Wifi Locations page for additional on-campus and off-campus locations, maps, and instructions on connecting.
Many internet providers are announcing various packages to help those who don’t have internet or have slow internet at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. Below is a partial list of what is offered. Please note: This list is rapidly changing. Please check with your the provider for the most recent updates and offers:

FCC agreement stating providers will waive late fees, not cutoff service for lack of payment, and open hot-spots.
AT&T COVID-19 response: Offers open hot-spots, unlimited data to existing customers, and $10/month plans to low-income families.
CenturyLink COVID-19 response: Follows FCC agreement, will waive late fees due to financial circumstances associated with COVID-19, and will suspend data usage limits for consumer customers for 60 days.
Charter Free Internet offer for 2 months.
Comcast COVID-19 response: Offers free WiFi for 2 months to low-income families plus all Xfinity hot-spots are free to the public during this time.
Mediacom COVID-19 response: Follows FCC agreement, offering complimentary access to all Mediacom Xtream Wi-Fi Hotspots for 60 days, and extending the pricing of Mediacom’s Access Internet 60 broadband service to new customers at $19.99 per month for the next 12 months.
Sprint COVID-19 response: Follows FCC agreement, provides unlimited data to existing customers, and, starting Tuesday, 3/17/2020, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge.
T-Mobile COVID-19 response: Follows FCC agreement, plus unlimited data to existing customers, and, coming soon, will allow all handsets to enable hot-spots for 60 days at no extra charge.
Verizon COVID-19 response: Follows FCC agreement, plus giving all mobile customers 15GB of extra data from March 25th through April 30th.
US Cellular: Follows FCC agreement.

Educational Resources

Amazon Future Engineer and Edhesive have collaborated to offer free access to additional Edhesive computer science courses or professional development through August 31, 2020. See this page for more information.
Check out this list of education companies that are offering free subscriptions due to school closings. It is frequently updated so make sure to bookmark it!

We are continuing to think of how this situation may affect the fall semester, and we are working on being as flexible as possible. Be on the lookout for a future blog posts and emails that will provide information on our next steps. Our goal is to determine how we can best support our IOAPA community! As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns at ioapa@belinblank.org

IOAPA & COVID-19: Resources

In regards to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we hope you are all doing well. We recognize this is a stressful time for everyone and we want to check in on a few things. We have created a few blog posts regarding IOAPA and COVID-19. This one will provide resources for navigating your online courses through APEX and Edhesive. This blog post provides internet access and educational/learning resources. Another blog post will discuss how the College Board is navigating COVID-19 with AP exams.

APEX Resources

Apex has suggestions for proctoring exams, and Apex also offered a ‘course-pause’ option for students that lose access to courses. If your courses are set up to be proctored by a mentor, you can:

Have students take exams upon their return. Per Apex’s standard policy, students will not be penalized for late work.
Work with parents to proctor students taking exams. Mentors can unlock tests remotely.

You can also request a course-pause for your entire program, or just for students that may lack access. Apex will leave the courses ‘paused’ until you confirm they should be re-opened. Please reach out to our student services team (alvs.support@apexlearning.com; 855-550-2457) to initiate this option.

Edhesive Resources

Edhesive has created a guide on how to continue courses with remote learning. This guide includes tips to support teachers, students, and parents. Edhesive is currently working with their partners at Amazon to support students who may lack equipment and internet access. Support and online teaching assistants will continue to be available to support students and teachers via online forums.

We are already thinking of how this situation may affect the fall semester, and we are working on being as flexible as possible. Be on the lookout for a future blog post and email that will provide information on our next steps. Our goal is to determine how we can best support our IOAPA community! As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns at ioapa@belinblank.org

IOAPA & COVID-19: AP Exams

In regards to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we hope you are all doing well. We recognize this is a stressful time for everyone and we want to check in on a few things. We have created a few blog posts regarding IOAPA and COVID-19. This one will provide information on how the College Board is navigating COVID-19 with AP exams. Another blog post will provide resources for navigating your online courses through APEX and Edhesive. This blog post provides internet access and educational/learning resources.

The College Board is supporting AP students by offering free, optional remote learning and at-home AP testing. These resources are offered in order to allow students to still earn the college credit and placement that they have been working toward all year.

For the 2019-20 exam administration, students can take a 45-minute online exam at home. The College Board development committees are currently creating these exam questions.
- Students are able to take these exams on any device – computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.
- The College Board recognizes the digital divide for low-income and rural students. If students need mobile tools or connectivity, please reach out to the College Board.
Each AP exam will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March. This will account for the students who may have lost more instructional time than others.
Some students may want to take the exam sooner rather than later, while the content is still fresh. Other students may want more time to practice. For each AP subject there will be two different testing dates. Specific test dates will be posted by April 3.
Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they’ve worked hard to earn.
Any student already registered for an exam can choose to cancel at no charge.
Beginning March 25, students and schools will have access to free, live AP review lessons,delivered by AP teachers from across the nation.
For more information, check with the College Board’s websiteand their AP updates for schools impacted by COVID-19.

Spring Term AP® Exam Scholarship Winners!

The Belin-Blank Center received funding in 2018 to offer scholarships for AP® Exams for students with financial need. This cycle of applications were for students enrolled in one-term, spring semester AP® IOAPA courses. Mentors, site coordinators, or principals were to submit an application to receive this funding. We are pleased to announce the teachers that are awarded these scholarships for their students! Congratulations to the following teachers:

Donna Bohlmann, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Junior/Senior High School

Shawna Goemaat, North Mahaska Community School District

Patrick Trewin, Decorah High School

The purpose of these scholarships is to pay for the cost of AP® exams for low-income students in rural schools who are currently participating in IOAPA courses. We want to thank these teachers for their dedication to providing resources and opportunities to their students!

As funds permit, we will continue to offer AP® exam scholarships. Make sure to watch for the AP® exam scholarship application this fall, 2020!

New Requirements for IOAPA Middle School Courses

As you may know, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) and the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS) have teamed up to provide identification and programming services, and to help Iowa teachers find talented students and develop their abilities. There are extraordinary benefits in identifying students who are in need of an additional challenge, and we at the Belin-Blank Center and IOAPA want students to experience these full benefits. According to research, above-level testing is one of the best methods to make these identifications.

After examining previous years’ completion and passing rates for IOAPA middle school courses, the Belin-Blank Center is implementing a new policy regarding IOAPA middle school courses. Beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, all students taking an IOAPA middle school course as a 6^th grader* will be required to have completed the I-Excel assessment. All students taking an IOAPA middle school course as a 7^th or 8^th grader will be required to have completed the ACT.

By requiring these above-level assessments, we are hoping to provide teachers with an effective tool to identify students who would benefit from advanced coursework through IOAPA.

Students must have taken I-Excel or the ACT in the past two years or will need to sign up for testing in order to register for the Fall 2020 IOAPA courses. Teachers need to begin the above-level testing process now. Registration for Fall 2020 IOAPA courses will be open April 1 – August 15, 2020. Below we discuss the two different above-level assessments and the process of signing up.

I-Excel

Find the students who are ready for additional challenge. Typically, students who have earned scores at or above the 90^th percentile on grade-level standardized tests, such as the Iowa Assessments or ISASP, are strong candidates for above-level testing.
Notify the students identified in Step 1 and their families about the opportunity to participate in BESTS.
If you have 6th-graders*, contact assessment@belinblank.org as soon as possible to set up testing after reading through the details at belinblank.org/inschooltesting. 7^th-9^th grade students in need of above-level testing will be taking the ACT, and there are specific deadlines for registration; visit belinblank.org/act for specific information. I-Excel testing sessions for current 4^th-6^th graders are more flexible to schedule, but it’s important to reach out soon to ensure that the process can be completed in time for your desired test date(s) and IOAPA spring registration. Please allow approximately 6 weeks from the time of registration to having the assessment results in hand.
Inform students and parents about test results and the recommended course of action following testing.

*If next year’s incoming 6^th graders are currently in a separate building, please feel free to share this information with the appropriate person in that building.

I-Excel Costs

The cost of I-Excel in Iowa is $45 per student if groups of 4 or more students are tested. The cost is $22 if the student is eligible for free/reduced cost lunch. For students test individually, the cost is $90 ($45 for those receiving free/reduced cost lunch). If students test on the University of Iowa campus in June at our testing session on campus (June 11, 2020), the fee is $70 ($35 for those receiving free/reduced cost lunch).

After testing, eligible students may sign up for an IOAPA course, and IOAPA covers the course fee (up to a $700 value).

ACT

The ACT is a test that many students take in 11^th or 12^th grade as part of the college admissions process. The ACT has also been used since the 1980s to discover younger students who are ready for greater academic challenges. Students testing through the Belin-Blank Center are provided with the individualized report mentioned above. Scores on the ACT can be used to qualify students for a wide variety of academic programs, including IOAPA courses.

Registration / Test Date Process

To make this process easier, parents can sign their child up for the ACT through our BESTS program. Click here for more information on this process. In doing so, we remove the guesswork from the registration process, we file the registration paperwork with ACT, and we also send you a coupon for a free IDEAL Solutions for STEM Acceleration report that provides an extensive interpretation of your child’s scores.

The ACT test dates are less flexible than I-Excel testing dates. Below are the available test dates through May 2020 (Note: we do not offer the July or September ACT test date through our registration system).

Test Date	Initial Deadline (Late fee after this date)	Final Deadline
Saturday, April 4, 2020	Wednesday, February 26, 2020	Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Saturday, June 13, 2020	Wednesday, May 6, 2020	Wednesday, May 20, 2020

ACT Cost

The fee for ACT testing is $70 ($35 for students who qualify for Free/Reduced-Cost Lunch). If the reduced fee for qualifying students is still too great a financial burden, the Belin-Blank Center will work with the family to make a financial arrangement that allows the student to participate. Registrations not paid as of the initial deadline will incur an additional $30 fee.

After testing, eligible students may sign up for an IOAPA course, and IOAPA covers the course fee (up to a $700 value).

For more detailed information about this new requirement of above-level testing for IOAPA middle school courses, check out our recent IOAPA-BESTS blog that highlights the most common FAQs. Please do not hesitate to contact us at ioapa@belinblank.org if you have any questions.

ISASP: Begin Discovering Talent in Your Students

Schools in Iowa began administering the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) for the first time in spring 2019. We have received a lot of questions about how to use the scores, especially related to talent identification, above-level testing, and providing opportunities for gifted students.

The ISASP was developed by the Iowa Testing Programs at the University of Iowa to align with the Iowa Core Standards. It provides standards-based information for students, their parents, their schools, and for the Iowa Department of Education School Performance Profiles. Unlike the Iowa Assessments, students’ scores are compared only to those of other Iowa students; they are not compared to a national group. ISASP scores are reported for English/ Language Arts and Mathematics in grades 3-11. Science is added only in grades 5, 8, and 10.

How Can We Use ISASP Scores to Discover Students Ready for More Challenges?

ISASP scores can be used as a first step in the process of identifying academically talented students or students in need of additional academic challenge. As is the case with many state assessments, students’ scores are also categorized according to their progress compared to other Iowa students. These descriptors range from “Not Yet Proficient” to “Advanced.” Whereas “Advanced” sounds like a clear indicator for talent development or gifted education services, students scoring in this category may have earned ISASP scores placing them anywhere from the top 1 percent to the top 15 percent of their grade level. Educators might choose to invite a smaller percentage of students to participate in additional testing, for example above-level testing provided by I-Excel or the ACT.

Using the 95^th Percentile

Rather than simply searching for students who haves scored “Advanced” on ISASP, educators can take a closer look at scaled scores and percentile rankings using the tables found in this document. Educators might begin by finding all students who score at the 95^th percentile or higher on one of the ISASP sections. Screening students for consideration for advanced programming by using a test that is administered to all students (also called “universal screening”) is a best practice in gifted education.

Using ISASP scores as a first step in the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS) is appropriate. To determine which students might benefit from BESTS testing (taking I-Excel in 4^th-6^th grade or the ACT in 7^th-9^th grade), we recommend inviting students who have scored at the 95^th percentile or higher on one or more of the sections of the ISASP to participate in BESTS. Scaled scores at the 95^th percentile are shown below:

ISASP Scale scores at the 95^th percentile

Grade	Reading	Language/ Writing	ELA	Math	Science
3^rd	461	454	453	459	—
4^th	488	487	483	491	—
5^th	522	519	513	529	528
6^th	549	548	541	557	—
7^th	586	575	575	589	—
8^th	607	609	602	625	616
9^th	643	635	631	651	—

Table 1

Casting a Wider Net: Using the 90^th Percentile

Educators in some schools might find that only a very small number of their students earn ISASP scores at the 95^th percentile, and they may wonder if additional students might benefit from above-level BESTS testing and/or potential adjustments to the students’ educational programs. Research at the Belin-Blank Center and elsewhere has shown that casting a wider net and including students earning scores at the 90^th percentile on the ISASP or other standardized, grade-level tests can help discover more students and does not result in adverse effects on students. In fact, we encourage you to consider the 90^th percentile guideline, especially for 5^th and 6^th graders. Research that shows us that students get an academic “boost” by simply taking an above-level test. If you choose to use the 90^th percentile guideline to include students for additional above-level BESTS testing, here are the scaled scores:

Scale Scores at the 90^th percentile

Grade	Reading	Language/ Writing	ELA	Math	Science
3^rd	449	446	445	449	—
4^th	477	476	473	479	—
5^th	508	506	503	512	509
6^th	536	533	531	539	—
7^th	566	562	561	572	—
8^th	592	592	588	606	596
9^th	622	618	615	626	—

Table 2

Students earning ISASP scaled scores at the 90^th or 95^th percentile are scoring as well as or better than 90 or 95 percent of the normative sample of Iowa students. This means they are already performing quite well compared to their age group. Then, we invite these students to participate in BESTS testing, where an above-level test (one that was developed for older students) is administered to younger students. Talented 4^th-6^th graders take I-Excel, which contains 8^th grade content, and talented 7^th-9^th graders take the ACT, which was developed for college-bound 11^th and 12^th graders. Test results provide families and educators with detailed information about the students’ aptitudes and the types of educational opportunities they might need to thrive. Examining your students’ ISASP scores is an excellent first step toward discovering talented students.

Recap

Examine the ISASP scores of your students. How many students are at the 95^th percentile, as indicated by scaled scores listed in Table 1?
If you decide you would like to include more students, determine which students scored at the 90^th percentile using Table 2.
Encourage these students to participate in above-level testing using I-Excel (current 4^th-6^th graders) or the ACT (7^th -9^th graders).
Use the I-Excel and ACT scores to help place students in challenging opportunities such as IOAPA, grouping talented students together for honors-level courses, or encouraging students to accelerate in a specific subject.

IOAPA: Funding for Spring Course AP Exams

The Belin-Blank Center is pleased to continue offering scholarships to pay for the cost of Advanced Placement exams for low-income students in rural schools who are currently participating in IOAPA courses.

We are now accepting applications for AP exam scholarships for students enrolled in one-term, spring semester courses! As a reminder, the deadline to order all one-term, spring semester AP exams in March 13, 2020.

IOAPA principals, site coordinators, and mentors can apply for this funding opportunity by February 21, 2020! For more information and for access to the application, click here.

The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. If schools are already paying for AP exams, they should not request this funding. Funding for this application is only available for students who are taking a one-term, spring semester IOAPA Advanced Placement (AP) course in the 2019-20 school year.

The per-exam cost for the 2019-20 school year is $64 for students eligible for free/reduced cost lunch. Schools should pay the $64 per student to the College Board. Schools should submit an invoice to the Belin-Blank Center after students have taken the AP exams along with documentation showing they have paid the College Board for these students’ exams. There will be no reimbursement if a student does not take the exam.

Awards will be announced by March 1, 2020.

As a reminder, the College Board’s new deadline to order one-term, spring semester AP exams is March 13, 2020.

Please email us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions!

AP® vs. Concurrent Enrollment

Finding advanced coursework for gifted and high-achieving students is important. You may find yourself questioning where to begin and also wondering what is most beneficial for your student. This post helps to explain the similarities and differences between Advanced Placement® (AP®) and Concurrent / Dual Enrollment.

What is Advanced Placement® and Dual Enrollment?

Advanced Placement® (AP®) is a nationally standardized program administered by the College Board. Students have the option to enroll in a wide range of different courses and take an exam in May. In Iowa, schools also have the opportunity to participate in the Iowa Online AP® Academy, which allows high school students to enroll in online AP® coursework for courses their school may not offer.
Concurrent Enrollment is an initiative offered by the state of Iowa that allows high school students to enroll in community college courses while still in high school.

How do credits transfer?

Advanced Placement®: Passing an AP® exam with a score of 3 or higher generally allows students to earn either advanced standing or course credit for entry-level college courses, depending on the university’s requirements. That is, students may obtain required elective credits or course credits (as if the student had taken and passed the course at the university) for entry-level college courses. For example, at the University of Iowa, receiving a 4 or higher on the AP® Biology exam gives you credit for a specific entry-level biology course (BIOL:1140 Human Biology) that might apply towards your degree.
Concurrent Enrollment: Generally, if students pass their class with a C- or higher, they receive college credit. However, this credit may or may not transfer to their post-secondary institution of choice. For example, per University of Iowa policy: Course work earned at a two-year college may be applied toward up to one-half the credits required for a bachelor’s degree. Excess credit and grades will be used in computing your grade-point average (GPA) and may be used to satisfy course requirements, but they will not count toward the total hours needed for graduation from the university.

What does the research say?

A body of research has consistently demonstrated that taking AP® exams and achieving at least a 3 or higher is correlated with greater success in various ways in college. Specifically, a recent study (Wyatt, Patterson, & Giacomo, 2015) found that AP® students who scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP® exam had more positive college outcomes than dual enrollment students affiliated with a 2- or 4-year institution.

There is also much research suggesting that participation in AP® courses alone, without taking/passing AP® exams, is still beneficial for students attending college. This speaks to the concept of “college prep” and coincides with anecdotal responses from Iowa teachers that students were prepared for college courses and the students felt that college expectations were below the expectations for AP® courses!

For more information about the history of AP® and future initiatives, check out this podcast.

What does the Iowa Online AP® Academy offer?

The IOAPA framework works with your high school curriculum so that you can take advanced classes (i.e. Advanced Placement® courses) that are of interest to you. In addition, AP® courses are nationally recognized as a way to earn college course credit at many colleges and universities across the nation. Finally, as an online program, IOAPA also offers flexibility that traditional courses may not in terms of scheduling, as well as practice with online course formats.

Will Iowa Online AP® Academy courses prepare students in the same ways as traditional AP® courses?

IOAPA students who take the AP® exam generally perform just as well as, if not better than, students who participate in traditional AP® courses. Students who enroll in IOAPA courses also tend to successfully complete them—during the 2018-2019 school year, the completion rate for IOAPA high school courses was 93.3%, and of those students, 89.5% successfully passed their course.

How can I learn more?

You can learn more about IOAPA by visiting our website. The University of Iowa’s AP® credit policy is here, or you can visit the College Board’s AP® Credit Policy database for the policies of other colleges and universities. You can also read about the state of Iowa’s Senior Year Plus initiative for more specifics on earning college credit in high school.

AP® Exam Scholarship Winners!

The Belin-Blank Center received funding in 2018 to offer scholarships for AP® Exams for students with financial need. IOAPA mentors were to submit an application to receive this funding. We are pleased to announce the teachers that are awarded these scholarships for their students! Congratulations to the following teachers:

Hollie Weber, Central Lee High School

DeAnn Scearce, Mount Vernon High School

Chris Rogne, Crestwood High School

Leanne Bender, Hillcrest Academy

Susan Fritzell, Marshalltown High School

Ken Baker, Forest City High School

As funds permit, we will continue to offer these AP® exam scholarships. Keep an eye out for more information on the spring semester courses application process!

IOAPA: Semester Check-In

We are now over half way through the fall semester! We wanted to take the time to provide the IOAPA community with some resources that may be helpful for finishing the semester, as well as provide you with reminders and upcoming dates and deadlines.

There have many changes and added resources to AP® courses. Are you aware of all of these?

These changes have been implemented to make your role more streamlined from registration, to exam ordering, to test day.

Click here to access a handout is quick guide to the new changes to AP® for AP® Coordinators.
Click here for access to the AP® Coordinators Manual Part I (Part II will come out in March). This manual includes:
1. What is new for 2019-2020
2. 2020 AP® Exam schedule
3. Exam ordering policies and deadlines
4. Instructions about new exam registration and ordering processes

AP® Exam Registration and Ordering

Do you have questions with the new AP® Exam ordering process?

You will use your AP® student roster to update exam ordering information, including SSD accommodations, for each student. For more information, click here to watch a quick and helpful video from the College Board and click here for more detailed instructions.

What about my students who will only enroll in a one-term, spring semester course?

When students get enrolled into their spring semester courses with IOAPA, the AP® Coordinator will create the exam only sections for those students. There should not be a need to denote those sections as “second semester.”
APEX and Edhesive will enroll those students into “second semester” AP® Classroom sections on the College Board site.
When the school’s AP® Coordinator orders the exams for the one-term, spring semester students, the AP® Exam registration deadline is March 13, 2020.

Why did the College Board switch to ordering AP® Exams in the fall semester?

The College Board implemented a pilot program for fall AP® exam registration that included more than 800 schools and 180,000 AP® students in the fall of the 2018-2019 school year. Below is what the College Board noticed:

Students and teachers reported the students were more invested, committed, engaged, and focused.
When students register for the AP® Exam in the fall, 15% more students completed the exam.
Students’ chances of earning a 3 or higher increase when compared to students in schools with spring registration.
There was a 12% increase in the number of scores 3+ earned by minority students, and a 20% increase in the number of scores 3+ earned by low-income students.

AP® Exams Taken by Low-Income Students: Scores of 3+

For more information on the pilot study, click here, and click here to watch a short video to hear the experiences of teachers and students in the pilot study.

Reminder: The final deadline to order AP® Exams for fall registration is November 15th, 2019!

IOAPA: Continued Funding for AP Exams

The Belin-Blank Center is pleased to announce the availability of scholarships to pay for the cost of Advanced Placement exams for low-income students in rural schools who are currently participating in IOAPA courses.

IOAPA principals, site coordinators, and mentors: Make sure to apply for this funding opportunity by October 15! For more information and for access to the application, click here.

The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of students taking AP exams from rural schools in Iowa. If schools are already paying for AP exams, they should not request this funding. Funding is only available for students who are taking or have taken an IOAPA Advanced Placement (AP) course in the 2019-20 school year.

Awards will be announced by November 1, 2019.

As a reminder, the College Board’s new deadline to order AP exams is November 15, 2019.

Please email us at ioapa@belinblank.org with any questions!

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Iowa Online AP Academy

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Helpful Tips to Start the Semester

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Exam Dates

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Confronting the Digital Divide

Exam Scores and College Credit

Special Benefit for Teachers

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Professional Development Opportunities

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I-Excel

*If next year’s incoming 6th graders are currently in a separate building, please feel free to share this information with the appropriate person in that building.

I-Excel Costs

ACT

Registration / Test Date Process

ACT Cost

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What is Advanced Placement® and Dual Enrollment?

How do credits transfer?

What does the research say?

What does the Iowa Online AP® Academy offer?

Will Iowa Online AP® Academy courses prepare students in the same ways as traditional AP® courses?

*If next year’s incoming 6^th graders are currently in a separate building, please feel free to share this information with the appropriate person in that building.